Touring New Brunswick......

Our Location: Walmart Front Parking Lot, Bathurst, New Brunswick


We left Edmunston after a rainy night. We shared the parking lot with numerous other RV’ers and something I noticed that was odd to me truckers had no issues blocking some of the exit/in roads to the parking lot in the middle of the area. Instead of parking across the lines they just blocked the driveway. I found that odd, and they looked at us odd as I didn’t park that way. Interesting. 

 

Riley noticed this fellow just hanging out while we were leaving Edmunston.

Cool, wet, damp and overcast was again the weather pattern for the day. Our goal was to reach Bathhurst on the north east shores of New Brunswick. One must be careful not to assume all roads on the map are actual roads, some are logging roads and with that in mind we continued on TransCanada 17 South until we veered off onto NB11 which took us north, then east, and finally south to our destination. 

 

Some of the long sweeping views as we left Edmunston on Provincial 17.

 

The sky doesn't look it but heavy rain is not far in the offing. Construction is minor.

 

We managed to fill up with the Big Dog’s drinking bowl for $1.24 per litre, best price we’ve seen the entire way. The previous fill up was $1.39 per litre. Huge difference. The green here is new, very much early spring colours and multiple just opening and soon to open blossoms such as crab apple, cherry, etc. Tulips and daffs are still the flower of the day. So we are again experiencing the cool temperatures of early spring. The wind is getting more noticeable which is to be expected nearer to the ocean which we managed to see on our journey today, snips and snaps of it at least. With the rain falling hard at times it was difficult to get any good pictures. However we did manage one or two. A quick stop in the small town of Saint Quentin for a break in their lovely little park  turned out to be the only place to stop during our drive. No other road side areas except one at a small town named Kegwick  which was literally 10 minutes down the road for S.Q. 

Lovely views, can't beat those green colours.

The over cast is getting more noticeable.

 

New Brunswick 11 was for the most part a good highway to drive, it had some extremely rough patches in places but over all it was good. Well signed, lots of moose warnings, although we haven’t seen any live moose, just a number of statues. NB11 reminded Riley and I of the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains in some ways, although the hillsides here are much less populated and more dense with foliage. The views were stunning in many places. We passed places like Campbellton, Delhousie, Belldune, and on into Bathurst. Cousin Ruth lives in Belldune but was at work when we passed through the outskirts of her town. The drive was beautiful with the wonders of mountain driving along with the vast sweeping views that comes from reaching the high points in the road way. In many places it was forest and only forest with the small clearings here and there for roadways and houses/towns. In a few places there was the open fields of the farms starting to show their first green of spring plantings. Just like a light fuzz on the ground. The mountains here are nothing like the Southwest USA but they are mountains in their own right. The Appalachian Mountains to be exact.  We’ve all commented a number of times about the various shades of green in the distance, the views different at each high point as the growth mixture changes to more of one green than another. Few very short passing lanes on NB11 as well. Some beautiful views of the water as we rounded the corner at Campbellton and headed south. We would catch glimpses here and there of the waters off to our left.

The grades become steeper and steeper as we go along.

Similar views, but still very pretty.

Bathurst is showing the first signs of english since we left Ontario. Even on the edges of New Brunswick such as Edmunston we found we were still dealing with more french than english speaking people or heavily accented at least. Signs were a bit more multilingual near the provincial borders but here in the town of Bathurst are in english which is helpful if it’s language signs and not visual signs. We all noticed that Quebec had NO BILINGUAL signs which I thought was mandatory since both french and english are the official Canadian languages.

Some pretty views, see the slash in the trees,t hat's the road way.

A small pond by the road side.

 

So if it  seems like we aren’t actually sight seeing I’ll tell you why.We’ve discovered that we are too early due to the late spring to enjoy the gardens, etc. We’re too early for the summer events, which actually don’t really interest us anyway.  The rain is a definite factor and it’s rained pretty much each day of travel since North Bay, our second day’s location. Some times down pours, some times mist like air and all points in between. It’s very cool here with temps some times dipping very close to the single digit numbers even during the day, the wind in that case also plays a factor as it’s a chilly biting wind. The few sun shine spots have been rare and usually while we’re driving which limits our ability to take advantage of it. The other thing as mentioned above, due to the late spring everything is late. A number of the museums and such listed along the way haven’t interested us in the least but we figured that when we set out to see this side of the province. While we could have gotten off NB11 and gotten closer to the water we opted to wait until we are much lower down in the province due to the crisp winds. Which is one of the reasons we haven’t gotten ourselves into a campground either.  In a day or two we will be in Shediac which is lower in the province and hopefully more seasonal in temperature. We’ll be staying a couple of days in a park there and getting out with just the Dogsled which will be fun, much easier to get around and see things as well. I’ve been thinking about getting out my heavy coat to even just walk around the parking lot. Even Riley is in long pants. 

 

I'll take these views.

Yes that is the wiper blade you can see in the corner and rain drops on the bottom. All pictures have rain drops in them.

So there you have it, nothing exciting but some good views and we are having fun enjoying this outing. Always an experience when traveling!!! Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

The town where we'll be spending the night.

Until next time …… take care, be safe,

 

The town of Sainte Quentin has a definite western flavour.

The town of Saint Quentin little road side park.

 

 

Deb

New Fuel Filter, toured a museum, and not on the list...

Our Location: City of Rocks State Park, Faywood, NM

Morning followed a wee bit cooler night, the outside temp this morning around 7 pm (MST) was about 40 F/ 5C. The Igloo was much warmer hovering about 55F/12C but I turned the heater on for a few minutes anyway. We were toasty in no time. We didn’t have time to dawdle this morning as we had an appointment in Deming for ‘this morning’.  We took the camera, a change of clothes, hats, water bottles and some new CD’s with us as we headed out about 8:35 am. 

This marks the way to the basement entrance

The drive was pleasant and we didn’t need the aid of Pheobe or Bella, our GPS devices.  I figured out the way all on my own. Damn I’m good. ~laugh~ We scooted through the town of Deming to Auto Tech  arriving at 9:10 am. Jerry the fella behind the desk took us right in to change the fuel filter with an original GM filter (He assured us yesterday). They even checked out an annoying noise that occurs when we travel rough roads or manage to hit a bump. The noise is a spring, not broken or out of place just noisy. The total bill was $128 USD. I thought that wasn’t too bad. The service was quick, courteous and informative. Jerry has lived in the area most of his life and gave us a few ideas of things to see, places to go, etc. 

Some of the bigger pottery pieces

Leaving there we headed for the Deming Mimbres Armory Museum. We found it with little difficulty. Don’t be fooled by the front doors which were gated, the entrance is around the side and down the stairs. We were greeted by a very nice volunteer that gave us a small glimpse of what the museum holds and was able to drop a couple of well known historical names of people that passed through this area. I found that to be very cute. ~laugh~ 

This doll survived the Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan

When asked to sign the guest book, Riley chuckled as she looked over my shoulder, it asked how I’d heard about the museum, I simply filled in : Another Canadian. Thanks George and Suzie. (Our Awesome Travels) The lady looked kind of questioningly at Riley when she chuckled and since she already knew we were Canadian I explained my ‘how did you hear of us’ answer to her. She laughed along with Riley. 

North Bay's Dionne Quints also are in this doll display

It is an amazing place. Truly with a number of very interesting things to see, we started with the local area and the dolls first. The local area didn’t hold a lot of interest for us but it was well covered with pictures of various peoples.

Riley offered to do the laundry!!

The doll room was truly something to see. I couldn’t begin to guess how many dolls might be in that room. Hand sewn, porcelain, plastic, etc. Dolls of all races and backgrounds, shapes, colours, sizes and gender. There is a doll there that was picked up after the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima and brought back to the USA. It is still intact and an interesting addition to the display. The Dionne Quints from North Bay, Ontario also made an appearance in this museum. 

1883 Navy Colt, .36 Cal pistol

We moved on through the museum taking in displays of pottery, clothing, furniture, appliances, medical advances, dental equipment, barber shop equipment, as well as some old vehicles including a horse drawn hearse, buggies, sleigh, and a few old automobiles as well. The chuck wagon and western displays  were well done, with numerous saddles, chaps and hats hanging around as well. 

City of Rocks sign in the park

It took us about an hour and half to get through and we didn’t take long to look at any  one display as there is just too much to take in on one visit. It was truly an enjoyable way to spend the morning. 

Love the hole up there.

We dropped into Walmart to pick up a few things, and realizing that tomorrow is Thanksgiving we think it will be a day around the park since pretty much everything will be closed. We may just not get to do much more sight seeing here as time is running out. Just more reason to come back another time. 

This fella was very still.

Today for lunch I had a large garden salad with some chopped chicken tossed in. Riley had chicken and a few little finger foods on the side. We cheated and bought the chicken at Walmart. 

Love this cactus

The camp host Bob and his wife Ruth came by to ask if I had a reservation for my site and how long I was staying. I had mentioned before that we had no paper work because we had reserved on line and was assured we didn’t need any. It seems the computer print out of reservations doesn’t have me listed on it. I showed them my confirmation letter which stated I’m here until Saturday 25, 2017 and they were happy. Said they’d mark it in the calander. They told me they didn’t need to see it but I felt better knowing they KNEW I have a right to the spot. A lot of folks are looking for electric sites for the long weekend. Later talking to Bob and Ruth I was told I was on the print out for yesterday but not today. I’m also on line at the Reserve America site but not on their print outs here at the park. They’ve fixed it by hand writing me in and telling everyone that needs to know we do have a reservation.

Noticed this water fountain in Deming

We noticed a camper parked in one of the boon docking spots when we made it home after our morning out. He packed up and moved into the spot beside us, and was starting to set up when the camp host had to tell him to move as the site was reserved. I see he has returned to the boon docking site.

A stroll around the park netted us about an hours worth of exercise and today we stuck to the road all the way. It appears about 1/2 of the boon docking sites are taken now. 

Sitting outside in my shorts and t’shirt at 3:45 pm enjoying the sunshine but thinking I should put on a shirt as the slight breeze can be a bit chilly, but I’m comfy where I am and have no desire to move. I truly am lazy. ~laugh~ 

I’m currently reading a book by Scot Turow, The Burden of Proof,  it’s very slow and I’m having a hard time getting into it. I may just chuck it for something more lively. I’ll give it one more try and see if I do any better. 

The park is filling up with the weekend approaching, the sound of children can be heard among the rocks. It’s nice to hear them having fun.

Always pink sky in the east at sunset.

I interrupted writing this post to go out for sunset pictures. I can tell you they weren’t very inspiring. No clouds tonight and so the sun simply sank with a bit of a light show but nothing too major. It was still nice though.

Nice among the rock formations here.

I wandered around the upper garden (by the boon docking area) waiting for some light show and managed to find some new cactus there.

A nice glow in the sky.

Chatted with Bob, Ruth and Ruby (14 year old deaf dog) as they strolled off to see if they could get a good look at the sun set too. 

About the best of the pics tonight

Back home, had a shower and settled down to edit pictures and finish my post. Confirmed our reservations for the upcoming move on Saturday, so we’re all set. It’s been a good day. 

Ruth, Ruby and Bob catching the sunset.

Not an exciting day, but definitely an interesting one. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time…be safe, take care…

Deb